Lover Beware

the edge, sprawling on the floor, pulling her over so that she collapsed on top of him. Instantly his arms circled her and held her to his chest.
    Sarah could feel the laughter start deep inside him, where it started in her. They lay in a tangle of arms and legs, laughing happily. She lifted her head to look at him, to trace his wonderful mouth with her fingertip. “Sheer magic, Damon. That’s what you are. Does this happen every time you kiss a woman?”
    “I don’t kiss women,” he admitted, shaken to his very core. His fingers were tunneling in her wealth of hair, her thick silky hair that he wanted to bury his face in.
    “Well, men then. Does it happen all the time? Because quite frankly it’s amazing. You’re truly amazing.”
    The laughter welled up all over again. Damon helped her to sit up, her back against the bed. He sat next to her. Both of them stared out the window toward the cliff house.
    “I could have sworn I closed those drapes,” he commented.
    “You probably did,” Sarah admitted with a small sigh. “It’s the sisters. My sisters. They’re probably watching us right this minute. Hannah came home right before I left and Kate and Abigail arrived about the time the driver was shooting at me. You could wave at them if you felt up to it.”
    “How are they watching us?” Damon asked, interested.
    “The telescope. I use it to watch the sky.” She used her most pious voice. “And sometimes the ocean, but my sisters are notoriously and pathetically interested in my business. I shall have to teach them some manners.’ She waved her hand casually, murmuring something he couldn’t quite catch, but it sounded light and airy and melodious.
    Shadows entered the room. Moved. The drapes swayed gently, blocked the sliver of moon, the faint light reflected by the pounding sea. Damon blinked; in that split second the curtains were drawn firmly across the window.

Chapter 5
    “YOU WERE KISSING that man,” Hannah accused gleefully. “Sarah Drake, you hussy. You were kissing a perfect stranger.”
    Sarah looked as cool as possible under fire. “I don’t know what you thought you saw with your eye glued to the telescope lens, but certainly not that! You ought to be ashamed of yourself spying that way. And using…” She trailed off to motion in the air with her fingers, glaring at all three of her sisters as she did so. “To open the curtains in a private bedroom is an absolute no-no, which we all agreed on when we set down the rules.”
    “There are exceptions to the rules,” Kate pointed out demurely. She was curled up in a straight-backed wooden chair at the table, her knees drawn up, with a wide, engaging grin on her face as she painted her toenails.
    “What exceptions?” Sarah demanded, her hands on her hips.
    Kate shrugged and blew on her toenails before answering. “When our sister is hanging out with a man with a black aura around him.” She raised her head to look at Sarah, her gaze steady. “That’s very dangerous and you know it. You can’t play around with Death. Not even you, Sarah.”
    Sarah turned to glare at Hannah. She didn’t want to talk about it, or even name Death, afraid if she gave it substance she would increase its power, so she remained silent.
    Hannah shook her head. “It wasn’t me ratting you out. You left the tea leaves in the cup and it was there for everyone to read.”
    “You still had no right to go against the rules without a vote.” Sarah was fairly certain she’d lost the argument, but she wasn’t going down without a fight. They were right about Death. Just the idea of facing it made her shiver inside. If she wasn’t so drawn to Damon, she would have backed away and allowed nature to take its course. For some unexplained reason, she couldn’t bear the thought of Damon suffering.
    Kate smirked. “Don’t worry, we made certain to convene a hasty meeting and vote on whether or not the situation called for the use of power. It was fully agreed upon that it was wholly warranted.”
    “You convened a meeting?” Sarah glared at them all with righteous indignation. “Without me? Without the others? The three of you don’t make up the majority. Oh, you are in so much trouble!” she said triumphantly.
    Hannah blew her a kiss, sweetly reasonable. “Of course we didn’t do that, Sarah. We contacted everyone on the spot. It was perfectly legit. We told them about the gate and how it opened on its own for him. And how the dogs greeted him.